Hamburg Süd, one of the ten largest shipping lines worldwide, and INTTRA, the world’s ocean shipping electronic marketplace, are pleased to announce that they have expanded their longstanding partnership to address the July 1 implementation of the International Maritime Organization’s Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Verified Gross Mass (VGM) amendment.

The INTTRA eVGM Service will be a channel for Hamburg Süd to receive VGM submissions from shippers to meet the requirement that all containers must have verified weights before being loaded onto a ship.

Hamburg Süd was a founding member of INTTRA’s eVGM Initiative. Launched in December 2015, it brought together carriers, freight forwarders, shippers, terminals, ports, regulatory agencies and industry experts to foster dialogue and readiness within the ocean shipping community and minimize disruption across the industry.

“Hamburg Süd played an integral role in championing a digital first approach to SOLAS VGM compliance and common standards for the industry,” said Inna Kuznetsova, INTTRA’s president and Chief Operating Officer. “Those standards are embedded in the INTTRA eVGM Service, providing the foundation for comprehensive and flexible service.”

“INTTRA eVGM Service allows an easy integration for carriers, helping to minimize disruption,” said Paul Wenger, Global Head of Customer Order Management at Hamburg Süd.

INTTRA works with over 50 leading Carriers and NVOCCs, over 110,000 freight forwarders and shippers, and more than 100 software alliance partners to streamline and standardize the shipping processes. Over 650,000 container orders are initiated on the INTTRA platform each week, representing 24 percent of global ocean container trade.

Hamburg Süd operates 130 container ships, a slot capacity of over 600,000 TEU, and around 50 liner services. The company employs 6,000 employees in 250 offices across the globe.